I had a chance to do a brief interview with former Leeds player Ian Harte, which was a really fun exercise as I grew up watching football in the exact era where Harte — along with all my favourite Real Madrid players: Raul, Fernando Redondo, Luis, Figo, Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Carlos, etc — all were at their peaks.
Harte, who made his name as a left-back, was one of the pillars — along with Alan Smith, Harry Kewell, Mark Viduka, and Jonathan Woodgate — of a very young and exciting Leeds team at the turn
of the century managed by David O’Leary who also played against Real Madrid in the Champions League.
Harte had an incredible ability to score long-range goals from open play and was a deadly set-piece specialist. When I had a chance to ask him a couple questions, nostalgia kicked in.
Q: What do you remember about Leeds facing Real Madrid in the Champions League?
Ian Harte: The Barcelona game stands out more in terms of a story. Our first Champions League match was away at the Nou Camp, and there was a chapel in the tunnel. A lot of the Leeds lads went in and said a prayer before the game.
I was Catholic, but I did not say one — and we lost 4-0, so maybe I should have done. That defeat gave us the kick up the backside we needed. We realised that if we did not improve, we would be out of the Champions League as quickly as we had arrived.
It galvanised us. We went on to reach the semi-finals and faced Real Madrid home and away. To share a pitch with players such as Raúl, Roberto Carlos, Zinedine Zidane and Luís Figo was brilliant, although we did not get the results we wanted.
Q: You also played against Real Madrid later as a Levante player. Who was the most important Real Madrid player you saw up close?
Ian Harte: Zidane. He was incredible. He just glided across the pitch and made everything look effortless. His quality was unbelievable.
Figo was there as well, and the names just rolled off the tongue. But Zidane was the one who really stood out.
Q: You lost the return game at the Bernabeu, and Raul scored a handball goal. What was the reaction to that?
It was a blatant handball. I am not a big fan of VAR, but if we had VAR then, it would have been disallowed.
We were on the wrong end of a few dodgy decisions in that Champions League run. We had that one against Real Madrid, then Valencia scored their first goal in the semi-final through another handball, which went over Nigel Martyn and into the net.
We got stung a couple of times by handball goals and poor refereeing decisions.
Q: As a free-kick specialist, did you ever swap notes with Roberto Carlos?
Ian Harte: No. Roberto Carlos was amazing, and the free-kick everyone remembers is the one against France, when the photographer behind the goal ducked out of the way as the ball swerved in.
His were all about power. Mine were more about whip and dip. People used to put me and David Beckham in the same category, and I was fortunate enough to score some good free-kicks, but Roberto Carlos was a different level.
Q: What was it like to play at the Bernabéu for the first time?
Ian Harte: Having already played at Barcelona’s Nou Camp, you realise just how huge those stadiums are and how loud they can be.
You just try to give a good account of yourself, whether you are playing at left-back, right-back or further forward. But when you are up against the quality Real Madrid had, the task is always that bit more difficult.
Heskey answered questions on behalf of football betting site betGoodwin
